Time Out.

It's an odd position I'm finding myself in right now. I am taking the next month away from work to come up with a long term plan for all areas of my life and to rest. I realize most people don't get an opportunity to do this, so I want to make the most of it, but it's a hard place to find myself. When this all came about, I was not exactly a willing participant and I didn't have the best of attitudes about it, but as time has passed I've come to think of this time as a blessing and an opportunity. I've had a hard time explaining it to other people, partly because I don't know what to really call it and partly because it seems a bit indulgent and I don't really think of myself as an indulgent person. While I was thinking through some things last night and sending two yelling boys to their rooms to take a break and regroup... it hit me... I'm really just on a time out. Granted, it's a pretty big time out, but the purpose is the same. I need to remove myself from a situation (ok, really it's my life, but that's a bit impractical), think about what I've been doing and have someone help me to see how I can do it better. Time outs provide our kids with a minute (or 30! if you're my kids), to catch their breath, calm down, figure out a new behaviour and then come back to play with a fresh start. It makes sense, doesn't it? Now, my time out didn't come from my mom and dad, my time out came from God, via the doctor, my boss and friends. God got my attention and fortunately I listened before it was too late. The funny thing is that not long ago, I was working with a mentor who led me through a Spiritual Gifts assessment and my strongest (quite clearly too) gifts were Wisdom and Faith. After the assessment was done, I was supposed to find ways that my gifts fit with my job. God always has the bigger picture though, doesn't He? My job is not the place I will be utilizing those gifts... it's right now in the middle of my time out.